[JS] CS3 and later. Sort the Swatches alphabetically

This is an old thread, but I found while looking for a solution to this issue. I wrote a script that will sort Swatches, Tints, and Gradients.

Easy installers are available here:
http://ajarproductions.com/blog/2013/12/13/sort-swatches-in-adobe-indesign/

For those interested in the code, I used add and remove to re-order the items:

#target indesign
/*
 * Created by Ajar Productions
 * http://ajarproductions.com
 */
var docOpen = (app.documents.length > 0);
var swatches = (docOpen) ? app.activeDocument.swatches : app.swatches;
var colors = (docOpen) ? app.activeDocument.colors : app.colors;
var tints = (docOpen) ? app.activeDocument.tints : app.tints;
var gradients = (docOpen) ? app.activeDocument.gradients : app.gradients;
var swatchNames = swatches.everyItem().name;
swatchNames.splice(0,4);
swatchNames = swatchNames.sort();
var i = 0, len = swatchNames.length, tempSwatch, iSwatch, props;
for(i;i<len;i++){
    try{
        iSwatch = swatches.item(swatchNames).getElements()[0];
        props = iSwatch.properties;
        if(!iSwatch.hasOwnProperty('tintValue')) {
            iSwatch.name = new Date().getTime() + ''; //produce unique value
            tempSwatch = (iSwatch.hasOwnProperty('gradientStops')) ? gradients.add(props) : colors.add(props);
            iSwatch.remove(tempSwatch);
        } else {
            iSwatch.tintValue += .01; //avoid duplicate
            tempSwatch = tints.add(props.baseColor, props);
            iSwatch.remove(tempSwatch);
        }
    } catch(e) {}
}

There's a longish thread in the HDS forum (http://www.hilfdirselbst.ch/foren/Farbfelder_aufsteigend_sortieren_von_A-Z_P484808.html) that discusses sorting swatches.

Has anyone figured this out yet? Just bumping this.

Would CS5 have it?

Not that I know. It's not in the DOM Help, which isn't really promising.

I tried this, by way of Fun Experiment of the Day:

1. Get swatch names

2. Sort

3. Duplicate in sorted order

4. Remove originals, replacing with duplicates

5. Rename duplicates to original names.

Seems to work for "regular" swatches, but tints, for one, cause an error. Perhaps somebody else know how to circumvent this. And I wonder what will happen with "imported" swatches -- those cannot be deleted, right?

Please, only try this on a copy of your Really Important Document!

//DESCRIPTION:Amazing Swatch Sorter
// (And You Thought It Could Not Be Done)
// A Jongware Script, 30-Sep-2010
allSwatchNames = app.activeDocument.swatches.everyItem().name;
allSwatchNames.splice (0,4);
for (order=0; order<allSwatchNames.length; order++)
     allSwatchNames[order] = [ allSwatchNames[order], app.activeDocument.swatches[order+4], 0 ];
allSwatchNames.sort();
for (order=0; order<allSwatchNames.length; order++)
     allSwatchNames[order][2] = allSwatchNames[order][1].duplicate();
for (order=0; order<allSwatchNames.length; order++)
     allSwatchNames[order][1].remove (allSwatchNames[order][2]);
for (order=0; order<allSwatchNames.length; order++)
     allSwatchNames[order][2].name = allSwatchNames[order][0];